Duplicity | Featured Photo by Danie Bester
Danie discusses how he shot this impressionist image of two religious women walking passed a crimson coloured wall
Photo Critic Photo of the Month: November 2015
TThe Photo Critic Photo of the Month competition for November is shared by two photographers, Nadia de Lange with "Walking to the Light", and Coenraad Albertyn with "Barbed Wire of Death". Both images are high impact, black and white "travel photographs" and both images have great compositional impact. Nadia's image is a good example of how contrast and scale can be used. What we liked about Coenraad's very simple, yet emotive photo is a suitable title and the use of shallow depth of field, texture, line, shape and form. Both, Nadia and Coenraad, each receives a R600 discount for any of DPC's photography courses and stand in contention for the Photo of the Year competition. Congratulations!
Photo Critic Photo of the Month: October 2015
The Photo Critic Photo of the Month competition for September 2015 goes to Jenay Jordaan with her portrait "Offering". Jenay's unconventional portrait is a good example of how dynamic tension and negative space can be used to create interesting and striking images. Jenay receives a R600 discount on any DPC Photography Course. Congratulations Jenay!
Photo Critic Photo of the Month: September 2015
The Photo Critic Photo of the Month competition for September 2015 goes to Caleb Dredge with “The Heat of the Competition” a slow shutter, impressionist image depicting the action and energy of swimmers fighting it out in the pool. His image reminded us of Ernst Haas’ work and especially liked the three primary colours of red, blue and yellow that keeps the eye jumping between the different markers. Well done Caleb, you walk away with a R600 discount on any DPC photography course.
Why some photographers shoot Jpeg and not RAW
Wait what? That heading is the wrong way round is [...]
Why Create Art?
Why create art? Simply because we have to. From personal experience, once an idea has seeded itself, I cannot move on until I have manifested that concept in some form or another. Once an idea has taken hold it will not relinquish until expressed. My art exists because my mind is held hostage and the only way to set it free is to create.
Photo Critic Photo of the Month: August 2015
The Photo Critic Photo of the Month competition winner for a second time in a row, is Koos Fourie with his landscape photo "The backroads of the Overberg". Koos receives a discount of R600 for any photography course with DPC for his winning image. Congratulations Koos. Let's see if you can do it again next month!
Bionicle Apocalypse | Shooting a Cinematic and Narrative Project
Shooting a Cinematic and Narrative story using a Lego Bionicle | A quick photography project by John Fox...
Photos from our latest Wedding Photography Workshop | July 2015
Here is some feedback from our 5-Day Wedding Photography Workshop, which took place earlier this month. On day one and day two of the wedding photography course, we focused on the commercial and marketing side of wedding photography, including developing a personal style and other creative issues. On day 3 we had a shoot covering various basic as well as creative lighting techniques; from working with natural light to more elaborate flash and artificial lighting setups. On day 4-5 we covered digital workflow; from image selections to editing, and creating wedding albums. Our main focus is to establish consistency and accuracy without sacrificing creativity by using the latest and greatest editing software, presets and online services. The "wedding shoot" is really the highlight of the workshop and I would like to share a few techniques and images we shot during the wedding course:
Photo Critic Photo of the Month: July 2015
The Photo Critic Photo of the Month is awarded to two winners, Luke Brouwers with his quirky street photo "Dreams", and Koos Fourie with his fantastic action wildlife photograph "Fight for Life". Congratulations to both Luke and Koos, who each receive a R600 discount on any DPC Course, or Workshop. Well deserved gentlemen!
Photo Critic Photo of the Month: June 2015
The Photo Critic Photo of the Month competition winner for June 2015 is shared by two photographers, Luke Brouwers with his photo "Trees in the Mist" (Nature) and Marethe Grobler with her portrait "Old Soul Young Girl" (People). Both Luke and Marethe receives a discount of R600 for any photography courses with DPC. They were not the only winners though! Ken Jennings impressionist landscape, "Gansbaai" will also be included for the Photo of the Year competition as a wildcard entry.
Photography as Art | An Interpretation by Kevin Richards
So what exactly is photographic art?
Photo Critic Photo of the Month: May 2015
The Photo Critic Photo of the Month competition winner for May 2015 is: Izak Van Heerden with his portrait "Keep Clean". Izak receives a discount of R600 for any photography course with DPC for his winning image. Congratulations Izak!
Photo Critic Photo of the Month: April 2015
The Photo Critic Photo of the Month competition for April 2015 is shared by two photographers; Amy Mcginley with her self-portrait titled "Shadowed Soul" and Luke Brouwers with "Early Morning Clouds". Both photographers receive a discount of R600 for any photography courses with DPC for their winning photos! Congratulations to both of you!
Lightroom CC and Lightroom 6 is Here! Read all about the new features
With great fanfare, we can announce that... Adobe has finally released the much anticipated Lightroom 6 as the new standalone version, and a Cloud version for online subscribers, Lightroom CC (2015)! It has taken Adobe about 22 months to introduce their latest flagship image management and RAW software, and the wait was worth it! The new version of Lightroom has a lot of new and improved features under the hood:
Travel and Landscape Photography | Mega Tutorial
Learn all the important aspects of shooting Travel, Landscapes and Seascapes! This Mega Tutorial is derived from a series of articles I have written for PiX Magazine in 2013. Covering technical and creative aspects of travel and landscape photography; from choosing the best locations and finding the best light, to camera gear, settings and creative techniques...
Photo Critic Photo of the Month: March 2015
Photo Critic Photo of the Month competition winner for February 2015 is: Kobus Eksteen with "Starry Sky". Kobus' image was taken in the Richtersveld with a Canon 5D Mark III and Samyang 24 mm f1.4 lens. He used a small torch to provide the side-lighting on the quiver tree. Exposure time was 20 seconds at ISO-1600. He used a the "DSLR Controller" app on his android tablet to focus.
My personal journey to becoming a wedding photographer
My personal journey to becoming a wedding photographer. This is my story... I am entering my 5th year in the wedding photography business since I shot my very first wedding and I have been reflecting quite a bit on the journey past. If you had told me 5 years ago that I would be making a living of wedding photography today I would have laughed in your face and called you a loony. I can actually remember Danie telling me this on a DPC portrait session when I did my very first course with him 5 years ago (I was part of only his second class) and thinking man, this guy obviously feels he need to say this as I paid him for the course!
Express your vision using Flash!
In the On-Location Lighting workshop I teach our students that one of the 7 reasons to use flash is to express your vision. As photographers, light is the notes we use to compose a song. If you only know half the notes the song you create will be pretty limited in tone and originality. If you however know the full range of notes you can create a masterpiece! If we are able to recognize and make use of natural light as well as incorporate artificial light where needed we can truly express our vision and create our own masterpieces!
Perfect Effects 9 by On1 Software – Free to download via 500px!
On1 Software has made their stand-alone or Photoshop and Lightroom plugin, Perfect Effects 9 available as a free download through the photographic community 500px. The software usually cost $59.00 and with the current Rand-Dollar exchange rate, this freebie is not be frowned upon! The software contains filters and hundreds of presets that allow you to quickly apply custom looks to your photos and the best bit is you don't have to be a 500px member to take advantage of the offer.
Photo Critic Photo of the Month: February 2015
Photo Critic Photo of the Month competition winner for February 2015 is: Kobus Eksteen with "Starry Sky". Kobus' image was taken in the Richtersveld with a Canon 5D Mark III and Samyang 24 mm f1.4 lens. He used a small torch to provide the side-lighting on the quiver tree. Exposure time was 20 seconds at ISO-1600. He used a the "DSLR Controller" app on his android tablet to focus.