The breakfast show

 

We normally enjoy at least a cup of coffee on our outside patio in the mornings. There used to be much more activity in the past when we had a bird feeder that we filled with wild bird seed, but the guinea fowl and turtle dove and rock pigeon domination put an end to that. We now just have a mild sugar-sweetened water feeder. And this does a suitable job of drawing in the performing actors.

Here are a few of the visitors we have:

That was scary!

The Kingston Trio

Breakfast time

Don't think they'll see me here

Busy dressing

Do ya wanna fight?

Bad hair day

RGB Palette

Morning stretch

I like that!

TPS Monthly Competition - November 2025

November was the last monthly competition for 2025. The Set Subject was "The colour orange". All scores listed below are out of a total of 15.

I submitted three entries into the Set Subject section, and 1 into the Open section,

Of the three images submitted into Set Subject, the one on the right was my favourite - a simple table top presentation. The judge scored the image 12 (a Gold award), but felt that the orange was too large and dominant in the arrangement. As you might guess, I felt differently, and had specifically left the orange that size so that the eye had a focal point to return to after looking at the rest of the image. The arrangement was done on our kitchen work surface. The pansy and tecoma flowers were from the garden, while the rose was part of a purchased bunch.  I particularly like the texture differences, with the soft flower petals contrasting nicely with the harshness of the orange and naartjie peel. Score: 12 (Gold award)

Orange textures and shades

Tipping point

Just a fun minimalistic image that I've wanted to do for some time, originally with a normal white ball, but the orange one works just as well. The judge didn't like the sun spots on the ball. I removed them after the meeting to see whether it would improve the image, and in the end think it's a matter of personal taste. But I should probably have removed them before submitting. Score: 11 (Silver award)

The final Set Subject image was a street photography shot taken at a Japan Day Festival held in Stellenbosch. Not the most exciting image, but it showed the mood on the day. The judge thought there was too much clutter, and that maybe a crop would have helped, but I had tried that before posting and it spoilt the message, so decided to post it as is. Score: 11 (Silver award)

Having fun at Japan day

My final image for the month is an unusual one, and my overall favourite of the four. 

The final phase of the Strand Seawall Upgrade Project is currently under way, and is expected to be completed by the end of November 2026. 

Construction status at 6 December 2025

In August, I took my camera and went for a walk along the construction area shown above, looking for possible photo opportunities. I came across a number of old, rusted water pipes that had been dug up as part of the excavations (they have since been removed). A number of them had really interesting rusted areas that were possibilities. My favourite of all was the shot below. It reminded me, and subsequently others, of an ancient map. The rust had eaten its way through some the blue paint on the outside of the pipe.

To complete the picture, I photographed an old-looking compass face, and added it to the image.

The judge enjoyed the image and scored it 13 (Gold award). It was the runner up image in the Open section for the month. A great way to end the year!

 TPS Monthly Competition - October 2025 

October was the first month of the Tygerberg Photographic Society's new photographic and financial year. My intention is to record via Blog posts each month, some information on my entries for each of the monthly competitions for the new year. All scores shown are out of 15. Clicking on an image will bring up a larger version.

For October 2025, 3 entries were submitted for the Set Subject category, and 1 for Open.

Set Subject: Macro/Close up

This image was taken in November 2024, during an organised TPS outing at the Vergelegen Wine Estate in Somerset West.  Lens used was the Fuji 100ml macro, with settings of f22, ISO 800, and 1/120sec. 14/15 (Gold rating), and runner up in the category. Judge mentioned she would have awarded 15/15 if the top left and bottom right had been darkened to accentuate the subject.

Also taken during a TPS formal outing on a Sunday morning at the Vergelegen Wine Estate in Somerset West, but this time in September 2025. Lens used was the Fuji 100ml macro, with settings of f14, ISO 1250, and 1/120sec. Judge's comments were that there was not really a good focal point, and a cropping at the bottom would have improved the image. 11/15 (Silver award)

Vergelegen lichen

Taken at the same outing as the image immediately above. This one also being lichen, just a different variety, and much more ominous-looking than the previous one. Lens used was the Fuji 100ml macro, with settings of f16, ISO 2000, and 1/120sec. Judge liked the image. 12/15 (Gold award)

Open:

A composite image. The biker was taken at the Zone 7 Speedspot in October 2014. The camera used was the Canon 6D with the 24-105mm lens, with settings of f5.6, ISO 100, and 1/1000sec. The background was created from a photo taken of a sunset at Melkbosstrand in July 2008, duly blurred and filters applied to achieve the desired result. Judge liked the photo but warned of blown-out areas on the biker, though after checking I found these to be acceptable. 12/15 (Gold award)

Flying high

Website

Thanks to the fabulous Slickpic Team (the team@slickpic.com) I finally have a website, where I can share some of my favourite photographs with family, friends, and anyone who may be interested.

You can access the site here: https://robminter.slickpic.site, or via the Portfolio link above.

As an added and totally unexpected bonus, I received an email from them with their latest "Photography News", dated November 10, 2025. Here is an extract from the newsletter:

An upside to all this is that after a long layoff, I am hoping to go back to publishing a few more blog posts. So let's wait and see! That's the plan, anyway.