Page 21 - Cape-Camera-September-2025

Cape Camera September-October 2025

PSSA Junior entry and Winner PDI – Set Subject (Proficient) The Crystal Rock by Lindsay
Antonio (14 COM).
Wendy Freer commented: A fascinating image ate a stunning, almost floating appearance.
where the rock appears to float like a ship on top of I was lucky to have the shot with only the sea in the
the ocean. The sky, the coral rock and the beautiful background after taking some 13 photos to choose
colours add to the impact. from. The only post processing done was to straight-
Lindsay Antonio says: This picture was taken during en the horizon as the boat was turning around the
a sea outing and the title The Crystal Rock refers to a rock and some adjustments to make the photo pop.
large piece of exposed coral situated in the shallow Nikon D750 handheld with a focal length of 32mm, at
lagoon off the southwest coast of Mauritius. The clear 1/2000s , aperture f8 and ISO 400. It received a score
water and the way the formation sits in the ocean cre- of 30 out of 45 in the PSSA Junior Club competition.

Below are the winners in the Set Subject category. Anna Engelhardt summarised the

judges' comments and Dave Gordon obtained comments from the authors.

Winner PDI - Set (Master2) Flexible neck by Richard Goldschmidt (15 COM).
Wendy Freer commented: Well taken and
compositionally a very strong image. De-
spite the light coming from behind it shows
details and is very sharp. One of those lucky
shots that can never be repeated. The back-
lit mane and the individual hairs on the
edge of the horns together with a subdued
background, make this image exceptional.
Richard Goldschmidt explains: I had
bought a new lens, a Nikon Z 180 – 600
for my Nikon Z 6 body and took myself
and Joyce off to Rooiberg Lodge near Van
Wyksdorp to try it out on one of their game
drives this past July. The drive started before
sunrise on the adjoining Mount Rouge Ol-
ive Estate, and we were taken into the can-
yon of the Grootrivier, which later joins with
the Gouritsriver. We crossed the river many
times and towards the end of the drive we displayed a behaviour of rubbing their necks together. This
emerged out of the canyon to find a group one suddenly flexed his neck, and I captured it as I thought it
of 14 giraffes standing in the low sun just in was unusual and had the low sun illuminating the hair on its
front of us. nek. The hill behind the giraffes was in deep shade, hence the
I took many photos, and this was the 10th dark background.
image ever taken with that lens. The settings were f10 , iso at 250, speed at 250th of a second
There were several young giraffes, and they with the focal length of the lens at the full 600mm.

Cape Town Photographic Society 21