Page 28 - Cape-Camera-February-2025

Febuary 2025 Cape Camera Cape Camera February 2025

Authors tell us about

their February winning images

Dave Gordon asked some of the salon and master ranked authors of the high-
est scoring winning images in our February 2025 competition to supply more
information about where, why and how they captured the image. Not all the
authors of winning images could be contacted, but the judges' comments

about their images can be viewed from p31

PSSA Senior entry and winner PDI – Open (Salon) A misty morning in Tuscany by Francois Retief (28).
Judge Leon Jacobs commented: A mesmerizing and stunning image that has an out of this world feel-
ing due to its beautiful soft colours and different layers of depth. It epitomises beauty and tranquillity.
Francois Retief comments: The image was captured in San Gimignano, Tuscany in May 2024. We
stayed nearby and morning mist was predicted, so we got up early. After taking sunrise photos of
the historical town from various angles, we made our way into the town (for a coffee!) and this was
the view from the first terrace as you enter the town.
A wide angle shot would not have worked, so I used a 70-200mm lens to isolate the most beautiful
area of the valley below.
In Lightroom he added quite a bit of contrast, reduced the highlights, lifted shadows, and increased
Dehaze. Some selective masking was also done, mainly to darken/burn areas of the image.
"I removed one dust spot, but no other cloning or manipulation was done."

The image was awarded a COM in the Randburg Salon in October last year.
It was captured with a Sony A7IV camera with a Sony 70-200mm lens at 113mm, 1/320s at f11.

28 Cape Town Photographic Society