Tygerberg Photographic Society - February 2015

So - one year in and my first anniversary with the TPS! What a great year it has been, and I can honestly say that joining them was the best thing that could have happened for my photography progress. The highlights (of course) have been when the judges like one's photos and score them highly, and the worst times are when the images just don't rate! But even the negatives have positives, as it is here where one learns the most from one's mistakes.

Set subject for February: Macro, or close-ups. As mentioned previously, this is an area that I really enjoy, and this month all the photos I submitted, both in the print and open categories, were macro images. So I'm going to show the images of all submissions below, though they can still be seen (with the judge's ratings) on the TPS Entries page (link is on the menu bar). As usual, please click on the images for the large versions.

Lichen on oak

The ageing process

Marbles and frangipani

The Balotelli wave

My biggest disappointment for this month was not receiving a Gold rating for the shot of the marbles and frangipani reflections. Mainly because the judge did not give any reasons for marking the image down. But even though it didn't get Gold, I still really like it!

Tygerberg Photographic Society - November 2014

The set subject for November (the final month for competitions for 2014) was "Macro". This is one of my favourite forms of photography, and while I expected to do well this month, it was in fact my bleakest set of results since joining the TPS, and the first time I have failed to receive a Gold rating for any of my entries! But - it's great motivation to do better going forward!

My first image was of a cross section of a Kiwi fruit, and not to make it too obvious, I decided to convert the image to black and white. I eventually named it "Ancient artwork from New Zealand", though "Alien sports stadium" came a close second.

The second image was of the centre section of a pansy, and I named this one "Furnace".

The images entered into the "Open" category can be seen on the TPS Entries page (link is on the menu bar). The "Light beer" image was just a bit of fun, though I quite liked it in the end. 


As usual, please click on the images for the large versions.

Tygerberg Photographic Society - September 2014

The September set subject was 'Macro" and these were my two entries for the month. The photo of the gooseberries was taken way back in May after a very helpful neighbour let me forage in their garden for the gooseberries. The second image was of a Wild Iris from our front garden, and a baby snail from our back garden!

My other two images entered into the "Open" category can be seen by clicking on the "TPS Entries" link on the menu bar.

It's been a big month for me as my four "Gold" ratings moved me up from the 2-star to 3-star category! The requirements for a move to the next star rating are onerous to say the least, and it will take more than a year to get there. And at the 3-star level, the scoring and points needed for the ratings are the same as for the best photographers in the Society, so it makes it that much more difficult for images to achieve Gold status. 

As normal, just click on the images for the large versions.