Page 4 - Cape-Camera-October-2023

Cape Camera October 2023

Meet your CTPS Council

These are the people who’ll serve you this year.

Nicol du Toit - President formulating a proposal for the formation
Nicol du Toit is a qualified CA, who moved of the Western Cape Photographic Forum
to general management of a logistics com- (WCPF). After the launch of the WCPF in
pany, where he was promoted through the 2018, Nicol was elected chairman, a ca-
ranks from financial manager to CEO, before pacity in which he served for the maxi-
he resigned to run the family business in mum four years.
1997. During this time he added an MBA to Assisted by a team that included CTPS
his qualifications (including B. Comm). members, he organised the Montagu
He was therefore a natural choice as treas- Cape Photographers’ Congress in 2019
urer when the position became vacant soon and the Greyton Congress in 2022.
after he joined CTPS in 2011. He continued Nicol was subsequently re-elected Region-
in this position until he became president in al Director and this year at the PSSA Board
2015, and resumed after the end of his term meeting at Drakensville, he was elected
in 2017. Andre Mouton this year agreed to become treasur- PSSA 2nd Vice President (the expectation is that he will be-
er when Nicol was again elected President. come 1st Vice President in two years time and President two
years later).
In 2017 he was elected Western Cape PSSA Regional Direc-
tor. Among the projects he introduced for the region were He was awarded LPSSA Honours and his salon entries
the Honours Group. He led a new team for the Western Cape earned him DPSSA in colour and in prints, as well as AFIAP
Judging Accreditation Programme (JAP), which served as a for international acceptances. At club his rank is Master.
blueprint for the current National JAP course, where he is After he resigned from corporate life, Nicol and his wife,
a member of the national committee. Through a blog and Trudi, bought a niche publishing company that published
newsletter he shares Western Cape club news and encour- the business magazine Sports Trader. Nicol was responsible
ages members to enter salons and other competitions. for generating advertising and looking after the business
During 2017 he also chaired a sub-committee tasked with side, while Trudi was responsible for the editorial.

Lesley Parolis - Vice President. Responsible for Competitions and Website (assist) Cape Camera: proofreader
Always willing to help and a ‘master of all the new world of D-SLRs and had to learn
trades’ it is difficult to imagine how CTPS will how to process my images in Photoshop.
function if Lesley Parolis is no longer availa- Now the new mirrorless cameras have
ble to assist in various capacities. For Cape made another leap forward in technology
Camera she performs an invaluable task as and I have embraced that and love using
the proofreader who has to spot mistakes be- the Fujifilm system and the Nikon Z series.
fore publication. She serves CTPS members in Being a member of CTPS has allowed me to
many other ways: develop new skills and ideas in photogra-
I joined CTPS in 2011 and, after being a phy by offering me exposure of my photos
member for only a year, was cajoled into to judges’ critiques and to fellow photogra-
taking on the role as competitions conven- pher’s comments on my work. This con-
er. The rest, as they say, is history because stant feedback is so important for growth
after nearly 12 years on Council I still have as a photographer, and it has allowed me
the same role! to move from a Beginner through to Salon
I was elected Vice-President in 2021 and again in 2023. and now Master where I am constantly challenged. (She
The way we run the monthly competition has, of course, was also awarded LPSSA - ed)
changed from my early days on Council and introducing Being on Council has also allowed me to develop other
Photovault was a big step forward that made life a lot technical skills in computers, software, setting up projec-
simpler for the convener and for the members. With the tors and sound systems, running salons and other competi-
Covid-19 pandemic we changed again and are now using tions such Interclub, etc. It has also brought me into contact
video conferencing software and conducting virtual and with many wonderful people and I have grown so much by
hybrid meetings quite successfully. being a part of this special Society. It is the oldest photo-
I love all forms of photography but particularly enjoy graphic society in the country, and it will endure because
landscape and nature photography. I started out my pho- of the hard work and dedication of the people who belong
tographic life with a small film camera, the Nikon FE, and to it and of those who give of their time to keep it running
when the move to digital cameras happened, I moved into smoothly as one of the best Societies in the country.
4 Cape Town Photographic Society