EOS Roadshow

All you Canoniers might be pleased to know of a Canon EOS Roadshow being organised for 05 and 06 May 2007 in Durban. You can go to Roadshow section of their website at http://www.eosroadshow.co.za to check the exact details of what's on offer. The courses on offer are Course 3 (which covers the more advanced camera features) and Course 4 on Photoshop. Courses are held at the Elangeni and the costs are R600 per person per day although you get a discount if you book both. The contact e-mail is info@eosroadshow.co.za and the phone number is o13 744-9527.

Outing: March 2007

24-3-2007: Outing cancelled. Steam engine broken. Sorry.

Just a reminder of our outing on the Inchanga Choo Choo steam train on Sunday, March 25, 2007. We have booked seats for those who put their names down but other members are still welcome to come along; you'll have to book your seats yourself (on 031 3033003), or take a chance that there'll be some left on Sunday.

The people who put their names down, and who must pay even if they don't pitch, are John T, Allan J, Zoe, Allan and Gwynne, Cathy and Craig, Kevin and family, Barrie, and Geoff . Get tickets from John at the station and pay him.

We meet at Kloof Station at 08h00.

by Allan Jackson

Photo opportunity

There is going to be a great photo opportunity at the Cato Ridge Airfield. They are having open days on 3&4 March, from 7am to 5pm, with plenty of interest including skydivers and flips. With a case of tick bite fever acquired on the last outing, Allan isn't sure if he'll make it but will try.

Meeting: March 2007

Our next meeting will be at Hillcrest Sports Club on March 6, 2007. Speaking will be some or all of the celebrated wildlife photography family, the Van Den Bergs. The meeting begins at 7 pm and, after the speakers, we will show members' pictures as usual.

Special meeting

We are holding a special meeting for new members and people who have so far been too shy to bring their pictures to our monthly meetings. It will be held on Tuesday, February 27, at 7pm at the usual venue at Hillcrest Sports Club.

The aim is to get to know other members in less threatening circumstances than a full-blown meeting. Experienced members of the club will be on hand to answer any questions you might have and comment on your pictures. You’re welcome to bring you camera if you need anything explained. Depending on how things go, we might end up with a little talk on composition and then again, we might not.

Outing: February 2007

Our outing is at Shongweni Dam at 7am on Saturday, 17 February, 2005. Go through the gate and find your way to the canoe club. We’ll be in the area below the dam wall if you arrive late. We’ll be there a couple of hours and then we’ll go for breakfast to a restaurant nearby.

Frans Lanting

Here's a link to a fantastic slideshow of the work of Frans Lanting. There are 86 fantastic photographs which you are sure to find inspiring. Click here and then click Start the Journey when the A Journey Through Time website appears. Then click view the slideshow.

What's On

All of us occasionally battle to think of something to photograph but now Verena has found a calendar of events in and around the city which should provide plenty of inspiration. Click here to go to Durban Africa's website and you can download the current version of the calendar by clicking on the link. Hint: You'll need the free Adobe Acrobat to read it.

Photography exhibition

The KZNSA Gallery is hosting a photograhy exhibition by Dale Yudelman from 13 February to 4 March 2007. The press release says the following:

’Reality Bytes’ - are images that portray decisive moments in a collective still, embracing fictive "truths" which retain the raw quality of real moments without compromising the authentic ethics and precepts required by photographic naturalism. Imbued with story-telling innuendo, satirical humor and social commentary - within a global fabric, this collection of images aims to deflect the psyche from its usual ratlin, to challenge and provoke the assumptive mind. Fable and fact blend to create a new reality that dwells within the eye of the beholder.

Dale Yudelman’s career in photography has led him through two eras of South African history as well as across several continents. Born in Johannesburg, he began photographing at a young age under the tutelage of his father and was barely out of his teens in 1979 when he landed a job as staff photographer at South Africa’s largest daily newspaper The Star.

Darned if I know what 'ratlins' are but, in any case, the exhibition does sound interesting. Dale will also be visiting the Bluff Camera Club at their meeting on 15th February at 19H00 and all are invited.

Action Boy By Dale Yudelman

2007 year planner

Your committee went through the hardship of a meal and beer at Hillcrest Station and came up with a calendar of club events for 2007.

The whole thing is too big to reproduce here so we have put it up on the Internet as a web page that you can view and print out. Just click here to view the page.

You will see that there is also a link to the calendar on the right, just under the 'About Us' section.

Dusi outing

The outing to the Dusi last weekend went very well with quite a number of members coming along, and then meeting for breakfast at Crinkly Bottom.

Meeting: January 2007

The next meeting will be on Tuesday, January 9th, at 7pm, at the Hillcrest Sports Club. We will be discussing what we're going to be doing this year and then looking at members' pictures as usual. The set subject is 'My holiday snaps'.

We will have a meal beforehand at 6pm if there are enough people interested. Please reply to me at my usual address with your booking.

Fees will be due at the meeting and are R100 for the year. The rate for photographic families is R150 but non-photographic spouses don't pay anything extra.

The outing this month will be to Inanda Dam on Saturday morning, January 20th, to watch the Dusi paddlers start the last leg of race to Durban. The race starts at 7pm and we will aim to be at the start at about 6:30am, which means leaving the Hillcrest Sports Club in convoy at 6:10am. We will follow the race for a little while downstream and then go for breakfast at Crinkly Bottom at 10am.

We are considering moving our website to another venue. Please look at this entry on the blog for details. It would be appreciated if you could come to the meeting with some opinion on the best way to go forward with the site or, even, if it should go forward at all.

Old Farm by Harry Lock

The picture was taken by Harry during a scouting visit to an old abandoned farm we found near Hammarsdale. We will doubtless go there on an outing sometime this year, but don't be too surprised if isn't exactly as portrayed in this pic.

Happy Christmas

A happy Christmas to you and yours and my best wishes for the coming year. Off on holidays now, so I'll see you in the new year.
Cheers
Allan

Bramleigh Manor Outing

Here's one from the outing:

By Allan Jackson

Member's pictures

Click image to view enlargement

Here are two from John Teece:

This is a great shot of a bird in flight. (I am not sure but it looks like a yellow-billed kite) John has avoided the mistake that many photographers make; that is getting the bird under exposed. This happens because the camera's exposure is influenced by the bright sky and results in the darker bird being recorded as a silhouette.

The way to avoid this is to use the camera's exposure compensation and set it to +1 or so. Problem is though, the bird does not usually hang about for you to fiddle! Comment by Harry Lock.

A tele-photo lens and a wide aperture has ensured the background in this picture is out of focus and does not distract the viewer from the subject. The bird is well placed and the action is there for us to enjoy. Almost as much as this long-crested eagle is enjoying his (or her) meal. - we are a gender sensitive club. Comment by Harry Lock.

Click image to view enlargement

Beyond the last post

It seems that there is more interest in the blog than was apparent from the level of members' participation in it. I reckon that it is worth giving it another try to see what happens, and so here goes....

This blog runs on the blogger system, which is quite useful as a means for one person to communicate to many, but it does leave something to be desired as a means for a group to interact. I have been looking at another alternative which, unfortunately, would mean a change of venue. Yahoo has a facility they call Yahoo Groups, which will allow us to to post our pictures and have discussions.

The good thing about it is that all members can post their pictures and start discussions which would remove some of the burden from me. Before opting to use this blogging system, I did establish a Yahoo Group for the club which you can view here.

I would like everyone's opinions on the change but I think it would be a good idea because, as you will see, you get a free online web album to store your pictures on a major photographic site as well as access to the group site. For example, my test album is here. The steps to getting yours are as follows:

• Click here to got to Flickr and sign yourself up for a free account.
• It is very easy and, during the process, you will choose a username.
• Upload pictures to your album.
• Tell all your friends and relatives the URL address of your album.
• Sit back and bask in the glory of your online album.
  

Why not go ahead and get yourself an album? It will let you show off your pictures to the world even if we do not eventually move away from here. Gaining access to to the group page will be as easy as letting me know the Flickr username you chose.

Please drop me a line with your feelings about the proposed move You could leave a comment by clicking the link below: you will not need to sign up to anything if you choose the anonymous option - just remember to tack your name on the end of your message.