Page 13 - Cape-Camera-April-2024

Cape Camera April 2024

Next E&D 15th May

Macro Photography

with Melanie Cornelius

Record number of Honours applicants

Five CTPS members have joined the current Honours group formed a few
years ago to assist Western Cape members who want to submit panels.
The group is guided by CTPS members Kim Stevens and Evelyn Gibson.
The current group has 18 members from clubs across the Western Cape
working on submission of panels for the Honours Judging session that
closes on 1 July this year. This is a record high number for the region.
The following judging session closes on 25 January. Please read here
about the rules and regulations if you are considering submitting a panel
or contact Nicol du Toit if you want to join the next Honours group.
After the closing date a panel of top judges, each with a minimum of
FPSSA, meet for three days to evaluate the submitted panels. Each image
Fine art commercial photographer is carefully scrutinised by the twelve (sometimes fewer) panel members,
Melanie Bentley Cornelius will be fa- who discuss each image when they disagree whether it should be passed,
miliar to many CTPS members who re- or not. The presentation of the whole panel is also considered.
member her macro and close up judg- The standard is very high and usually only about a third of the submitted
ing sessions at the club, or were on a panels succeed in a judging session. A member of the judging panel is ap-
club outing she joined. pointed to give feedback to each unsuccessful candidate about why some
She has been capturing images since images were not passed.
the age of 16 after she developed a The applicant may use the credits received (when at least 75% of the judg-
love for photography while attending es passed an image) for two years when resubmitting a panel with new
the Hugo Naude Art School in Worces- images to replace those that were not passed previously.
ter, where she grew up. Please note, the deadlines are only for submissions of panels, you can ap-
In 2015 Melanie left the corporate ply for the Honours awarded for the number of salon acceptances you
world, where she worked in human achieved (DPSSA etc.) any time you are ready. See more here.
resources and finance for 14 years,
to pursue a full-time commercial and Applicants who succeed in obtaining these honorary titles bestowed by
fine art photography career. PSSA may apply to membership@pssa.co.za for an Honours e-badge. They
can use these on personal websites, letterheads, accreditation applications
Melanie has won African Photo's Pho- etc. as long as they remain a full member of PSSA.
tographer of the Year 2011 award,
published and exhibited locally and in- These titles are not qualifications, but indications that PSSA considers the
ternationally, and is an official photog- holder worthy of Licentiate, Associate, Fellow, etc. membership, hence the
raphy trainer for Canon South Africa. limitation of the use of these titles to members.
She has also worked with many com-
panies and establishments, capturing
food, products and social media con-
tent, along with many other photo-
graphy projects.
Melanie also shares her creative
knowledge with others through her
tutoring programs and interactive on-
line photography group, where she
motivates and inspires others to de-
velop and have fun with their craft.
You can see Melanie's work on her
website www.melaniec.co.za.
Group leaders Kim Stevens and Evelyn Gibson (right)

Cape Town Photographic Society 13